Have the garage fitted the wrong shocks and springs

[BillyCool]

Seeking help from the collective big brains on here.

2014 Leon ST FR 2.0 tdi 184 151,000 miles.

Broke a front spring last week and it sent it in for a new pair. Also asked them to fit new shocks since they had never been changed and the labour isn't much different to just doing the springs.

Got the car back and.....

1. Ride height "seems" a bit higher at the front. Might be me but just looks like more tyre to wheelarch clearance. I think the ST FR 184 is 15mm lowered from factory?
2. Front end cornering - my big issue. The car drives fine in a straight line. I have lots of country lanes where I am and I know how the car corners and it is very composed on the road, nice responsive steering and basically corners like it is on rails. Now, it sort of "wallows" and front end sags/dips/understeers. Not the positive steering I'm used to. It's like driving the wife's Volvo, with it's "normal" suspension. It just doesn't feel right ad there seems to be excessive body roll.

Parts fitted:

KYB RA1312 coil springs

NK 65473890 shock absorbers

Now - both parts are "compatible" with my car according to autodoc and other places. However - if the car is 15mm lowered, these springs can't be suitable for all models as autodoc suggests?

The car just doesn't feel as planted on the road and it just sort of wallows a bit on the corners - you can feel the front end dipping. I'm hoping you know what I mean. I'm wondering if I need lower and/or stiffer springs and could/should I have other shocks?

Anyway - it doesn't feel right and it's like it's a different car.

So - the questions is, is it just me or should it have something different fitted? The pic is of it after the new front shocks/springs were fitted,.

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

[RUM4MO]

One thing that I now do at service time is to measure and record the ride heights front and rear - both sides, I do that after making sure that the tyre pressures are correct - really just to avoid getting into this situation "is it me or is it sitting higher/lower than it used to?" , also probably helps with detecting when/if a short end of spring has broken off - or any other suspension issue/changes have happened and gone unnoticed.

Maybe that sounds like overkill - but if/when you end up in the situation that the OP is in, you'll consider that it is time well spent at service time.

Edit:- look at the bottom of that Autdoc link and click on OE Number - that is what you now need to check, ie is that what SEAT fitted to your car at the factory.

 

[RUM4MO]

Just one other comment, as that KYB spring claims to be equivalent to 5Q0 401 105 CS, then if that is correct, your original front springs would have had a single YELLOW + BLUE + VIOLET dab of paint on them.

Edit:- I like recording things like original road springs codes when I buy a car, it can make life a bit easier when you need to replace one or both - even with aftermarket parts.

Also be very aware that while across the VAG marques for this "size" of car, VAG will offer maybe 24 different spring ratings and so part numbers, aftermarket will probably only offer 8 or 12 to sort of cover all weight ranges.

 

[BillyCool]

Just one other comment, as that KYB spring claims to be equivalent to 5Q0 401 105 CS, then if that is correct, your original front springs would have had a single YELLOW + BLUE + VIOLET dab of paint on them.

Edit:- I like recording things like original road springs codes when I buy a car, it can make life a bit easier when you need to replace one or both - even with aftermarket parts.

Also be very aware that while across the VAG marques for this "size" of car, VAG will offer maybe 24 different spring ratings and so part numbers, aftermarket will probably only offer 8 or 12 to sort of cover all weight ranges.

Thanks for that. You're not wrong! I just assumed that with Reg No and VIN they'd know what it needed. I've spoken to the garage and they are going to measure the old spring. They did say to the parts provider that it is lowered/sports suspension and they said it was the correct part. The on-line parts checkers all agree but also offer so many length options.

The KYB is 290mm and you can also get springs from other brands in 282, 277 and 272. There also also options for 255 and 254 but I suspect that is CUPRA spec. I know mine was lower than the 290 but I don't know the exact size.

Either way, far too many variables that "fit" my car, so I'm trying to find out what the factory fitted spec was. If anyone knows the best way to get that info, please let me know. I'll also see what the garage say about the measurements of the old spring.

I will be changing springs though, as the car is no longer fun to drive.

 

[RUM4MO]

Remember if your garage has an old spring, they can check the colour coding on it, and that leads you directly to the VW Group part number - assuming that your car had its original springs on it before this work.

 

[Compo1]

Can not help on the front part numbers but i can say that the front springs will settle and drop abit after a few hundred miles.

New springs will always look to sit higher than what you've taken off and you're settled or worn rear end springs.

 

[BillyCool]

Remember if your garage has an old spring, they can check the colour coding on it, and that leads you directly to the VW Group part number - assuming that your car had its original springs on it before this work.

That revelation occured today. I messaged an on-line SEAT parts dealer and they replied to say that there are 35 spring options for my VIN and couldn't help me beyond that. After my own search for a VIN number parts checker, I found a website that lists all of the variations and the colour coding.

https://www.lllparts.co.uk/catalogs/seat/ALL/LE/754/4/411/411050

I spoke to the garage and they were doing the same thing and have ordered a set of genuine springs that should match the same colour coding.

The silly thing is that the corresponding product code still brings up the same KYB springs that they fitted that are 290mm and also a set of Monroe at 272mm. It seems that the colour matching is the only way to get like for like - I hope. Anyway - the garage will mesasure the new (new) ones tomorrow and see what that says.

I had NO idea it was this complicated!

 

[BillyCool]

Can not help on the front part numbers but i can say that the front springs will settle and drop abit after a few hundred miles.

New springs will always look to sit higher than what you've taken off and you're settled or worn rear end springs.

Appreciate that but the front end really wallows on the bends and seems really "mushy". It just feels so wrong!

 

[Mr Pig]

I had NO idea it was this complicated!

If you buy the springs from a dealer it isn't. They have a record of exactly what was fitted to your car and that's what you get. Bought springs twice and been correct both times. The dots were exactly the same as the springs coming off.

An aftermarket supplier does not know what was fitted to your car and will recommend all of the options that are listed as suitable. All bets are off to be honest. For example I wanted a fuel filter for my daughter's Toledo a few years ago. Autodoc listed about twenty filters as compatible including several genuine VW ones which looked identical but had different part numbers. Didn't inspire confidence so I bought one from the dealer. When I asked the parts guy about them he said that fuel filters have different levels of resistance depending on the rest of the fuel system. So two VW filters might look identical and fit the car but the wrong one might cause running issues. So you then spend ages going round in circles trying to figure out why the car's not running properly and never suspect the filter because it's a brand new genuine VW part!

Any money you save buying an aftermarket part can easily be wiped out if that part causes a headache. I'll happily use good quality aftermarket parts for some things but I'm increasingly inclined to just get the genuine item as you know it'll be right and it's fit and forget. Also, when you come to sell the car and show the buyer a pile of dealer receipts for parts they are happy bunnies! ;0)

 

[BillyCool]

If you buy the springs from a dealer it isn't. They have a record of exactly what was fitted to your car and that's what you get. Bought springs twice and been correct both times. The dots were exactly the same as the springs coming off.

An aftermarket supplier does not know what was fitted to your car and will recommend all of the options that are listed as suitable. All bets are off to be honest. For example I wanted a fuel filter for my daughter's Toledo a few years ago. Autodoc listed about twenty filters as compatible including several genuine VW ones which looked identical but had different part numbers. Didn't inspire confidence so I bought one from the dealer. When I asked the parts guy about them he said that fuel filters have different levels of resistance depending on the rest of the fuel system. So two VW filters might look identical and fit the car but the wrong one might cause running issues. So you then spend ages going round in circles trying to figure out why the car's not running properly and never suspect the filter because it's a brand new genuine VW part!

Any money you save buying an aftermarket part can easily be wiped out if that part causes a headache. I'll happily use good quality aftermarket parts for some things but I'm increasingly inclined to just get the genuine item as you know it'll be right and it's fit and forget. Also, when you come to sell the car and show the buyer a pile of dealer receipts for parts they are happy bunnies! ;0)

Great input. Thanks. I just didn't realise the plethora of options and the fact that, in this instance, the part numbers weren't sufficient.

Hopefully this will solve it. The springs are twice the price, but like you say, it's one of those things you need to get right.

I should find out today if they are the match and it sounds like they will be.

 

[RUM4MO]

Seeing as it has been mentioned, the main issue with petrol filters is that they used to come as just a filter element, which meant that it had to be separated from the "close coupled" fuel pressure regulator, that worked well enough - maybe - but must have caused issues in later life where separating and recombining these now one new and one old part combo, so it looks like common sense prevailed and only the complete assembly started to be sold. Where the casual DIYer or small workshop can mess up is if they looked under the car and found the VW Group part number printed on the filter element - but that only covered the actual filter part of the combo. Thankfully this issue was vanished altogether as newer (at least VW Group) petrol engined cars don't have petrol filters.

I remember back in maybe 2008, trying to source a new petrol filter for my wife's 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16V, no "change period" was given by VW Group, so essentially these filters were fitted for life - or until they had ended up getting fed with dirty fuel, which did not really happen in Northern Europe, so buying a new from VW meant that it had to get ordered in from the UK or Germany warehouse, then there were the aftermarket options - which looked a bit strange at first, so just the common filter element - or common filter element complete with a low pressure fuel regulator - or a common filter element complete with a slightly higher pressure fuel regulator! Just to play very safe, I bought a VW Group fuel filter element from my VW dealership, found the correct fuel pressure regulator NOS online and bought that, then felt the need to buy a new spring clip that is needed to join them together - so that I had a fully assembled "lump" ready to swop over, then just to play safe bought a couple of "pipe connector repair kits" - so, 17 years later that stuff is still stored warm and dry in the airing cupboard, the 2002 VW Polo will now be bean cans etc, and its replacement VW Polo 2015 model does not have an inline fuel filter, just a screen in the "in tank" lift pump assembly.

 

[RUM4MO]

BTW, it was by checking the relevant PR code for that 2002 VW Polo 1.4, that I worked out what the fuel regulated pressure was - really in all or nearly all cases, working out which parts your car requires requires that you have access to the full build codes, ie "CAR DATA" - it is all in there. That is just as relevant to your SEAT Leon front springs as it was for my wife's old 2002 VW Polo petrol fuel filter fuel pressure regulator.